Greenhouses constitute an integral part of the Palestinian agricultural structure.
Nonetheless, farming multiple crops on the same farm during the same season is still
hard and a risky decision that farmers seek to avoid, despite the recent tendency to
attempt diversifying. The aim of this study is to identify the cropping patterns prevalent among the northern Palestinian greenhouse farmers and the diversifcation decision affecting factors. A survey study was conducted in the northern regions of the
West Bank of Palestine. The study area included three governorates, Jenin, Tubas
and Tulkarm, with a geographical coordination between 35° 13’ to 35° 16’ east
longitudes and 32° 06’ to 32° 32’ north latitude. Quantitative methods depending on
PCBS (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics) issues regarding agricultural
production and a questionnaire of the crops cultivated by the farmers were adopted.
Data were analyzed using SPSS software package. The Herfndahl Index was used
to assess diversifcation level. The results indicated that the diversifcation level was
low in Jenin (0.33965) and Tubas (0.466525), but Tulkarm (0.25965) showed high
diversifcation patterns. The crops mostly cultivated were cucumber, tomato and
pepper, forming 35%, 34.88% and 9.75% of the total cultivated greenhouses in the
three governorates respectively. The diversifcation decision was mostly influenced
by the farmer’s educational level, monthly income and years of experience. The fear
of risk common among the farmers can be minimized by a collaboration between the
agricultural associations, NGOs and ministries of agriculture and national economy
to compensate farmers’ loss.
 

Title

Cropping Patterns and its Determinants in the Greenhouses in the Northern Governorates of the West Bank, Palestine

Publisher

The Arab World Geographer

Publisher Country

Canada

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

0.04

Publication Type

Prtinted only

Volume

22

Year

2019

Pages

66-77